Originally Posted by
Redjack
You can't be wrong or right about how you enjoy art. If you hated BPQ, you hated it and that's just as legit as every fan who loves it.
Other creators will say things like "i'm sorry you didn't like it." I have too in the past. That's politics.
Here's the truth.
I was not asked to recreate the MCU Black Panther because that film did not exist when we started making the show. We could not recreate the version of the Panther shown in the comics at the time because that was Coates' version and it was way too dark for a tween and teen audience. Also, I wouldn't have taken the job if that had been the job. No chance. We were also told not to worry about matching BPQ to previous seasons of Avengers Assemble, hence the re-title to go with the new focus.
So, if anyone's disappointed we didn't make versions of those other Panthers, that's on them. We never said we were trying to do that because we weren't trying to do that.
The Black Panther in BPQ was close to "my version" of the Panther in many ways but even that was nowhere near what I'd do were I driving the 616 book. There are a million things you can't do on the Disney Channel that you can easily do in a comic book. You have no idea the stories you just can't tell.
Right now, in this convo, we're all fans.
I step back a lot in the forums (i never used to step back at all) because my pro-writer status gives some of my comments more weight in the minds of some but, right now, we're all just in the audience and I'm no bigger or smaller than any other fan. I have my own ideas about what makes a good Black Panther and they have nothing to do with gadgets or BP and Wakanda kicking the s**t out of everybody they meet. That is not only boring to me, it's weak, writing-wise.
We disagree on what makes the Panther interesting.
So, if I ever get to drive the 616 Panther, it's probably a good bet that you will not like my version there, even if it's nothing like BPQ (and it wouldn't be like BPQ). When I work as a writer, we are not in a conversation. I'm not trying to "convince" you of anything or "prove myself" in any way. I'm telling a story. That's it. Either you like it or you don't. That is also it.
I come up with a story I like. I pitch that story to Company X. If they like it too, they hire me to write it. And then i write it. The way I want, according to my own tastes and the company's notes. If, at some point, the company wants me to, I dunno, make T'Challa white or have him marry his sister or start talking like a Woke American From Detroit, well, that's when i walk away.
Somebody else can do that.
I write T'Challa as a hero as I see heroes. Heroes who just come in and win every fight are boring as f**k. Heroes with a special gadget in their belt that just happens to be able to take out this villain they've never met before are a joke.
MY T'Challa will make mistakes, he will sometimes fail and he will need assistance from time to time. He has no reason to like or dislike white people as a group. ALL my Wakandans think of ALL non-Wakandans as barbarians. And rightly so. From their POV Wakanda is the only example of civilization that exists on Earth. MY heroes take hits that they feel, they carry every loss. They don't pose. They don't gloat. They are heroes. And, yes, some of my heroes die. If you don't like that, you will not like my super-heroes because they will never be anything other than that.
I built T'Challa's Rogues Gallery for the show the way I wanted. I modified and selected them from what was available and did what I wanted with them. I remade Zanda the way I wanted. I invented Yemandi out of whole cloth because I wanted to.
Because that's what writers do when they get the chance. We hope MOST in the audience dig it but, if they don't? Oh, well. Moving on. You can't please everyone. Best not to try.
I've been on these boards a long time and a lot of writers won't engage fans when they come at them this way. I'm not that guy.
BPQ was the best version of T'Challa that has appeared on TV thus far, as far as I'm concerned.
But I'd be THRILLED if someone would come in and do something better. I hope they will. I'd LOVE to see that show.
I'm just here for the good stories. That's it.